200 g plain flour
1 tbsp icing sugar
100 g butter
1 egg yolk
4 small ripe pears
300 g mincemeat
2 tbsp sieved apricot jam
Whipped cream to serve

Sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter. Add the egg yolk and enough iced water to mix to a dough. Turn the pastry out on to a floured surface, knead lightly, then roll out the pastry and line six individual 10-centimetre tartlet tins. Prick the bottom of the tartlets with a fork and chill them for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Peel, core and chop one pear, mix it with the mincemeat, then divide the mixture between the tartlets. Peel and halve the rest of the pears and, using a melon baller or teaspoon, remove the cores, then, starting approximately one centimetre from the stalk end, cut the pear into six slices.

Gently press the palm of your hand on to the pear to fan the slices out, then using a palate knife, sit it on top of the mincemeat.

Brush the pears with the sieved apricot jam, put the tartlets on to a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes, until the pastry is browned and the pears are tender. Serve warm with whipped cream.